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I don't think it's as bad as some people say. I really wish someone could get the word out to keep people spending and stop being so frugal. That will help the economy. Hopefully Obama will save us all haha.
I don't think it's as bad as some people say. I really wish someone could get the word out to keep people spending and stop being so frugal. That will help the economy. Hopefully Obama will save us all haha.
The problem is most people spend with their credit cards and not real money. This is just revolving debt that never goes away for some. Many people have very little money, as a nation we haven't been saving for years. We used investments in the markets and real estate to save, both of which are losing a fortune. I don't know if we can thrive in a consumer based ecomony again. I'm not spending a lot because I can't afford to. Citizens spending might not be the cure all here. Heck, I don't even know what will fix all of these problems.
This is a more specific question. For those of you in HI, how do prices at national chain stores compare to online prices? The same? E.g. I just went to Sears online and the price quoted for appliances doesn't depend on the state and they would deliver for a fee. If the price is the same at the store in Hilo, then I'd say living in HI isn't that much more expensive than mainland? I realize grocery and gas is generally more expensive in HI but, when grocery is on sale, it's comparable to mainland prices.
This is a more specific question. For those of you in HI, how do prices at national chain stores compare to online prices? The same? E.g. I just went to Sears online and the price quoted for appliances doesn't depend on the state and they would deliver for a fee. If the price is the same at the store in Hilo, then I'd say living in HI isn't that much more expensive than mainland? I realize grocery and gas is generally more expensive in HI but, when grocery is on sale, it's comparable to mainland prices.
There are a lot of national chain stores which we don't have here so we can't get stuff from them unless we buy it online and pay shipping. Many stores will say "free delivery" or some such until you read the fine print and then they say "continental U.S. only". Oahu has more mainland stores and a lot of "shopping opportunities" but the outer islands are extremely limited in the variety and amount of stores.
The Big Island has one Costco, one K-Mart, two Wal-marts, they say they are building a Target but it's not open yet, two Safeways, two Wendy's, a few 7-11's, two Home Depots, one Lowe's, a few Pizza Huts, a couple of Taco Bells, Jack-in-the Boxes, maybe five Starbucks although one closed, I think, a few McDonalds, two Ross', several ACE hardware stores and several of the mom-n-pop hardware stores are associated with True Value hardware, at least one Office Max, two Border's books, one Sears, several Napa Auto parts, two Macy's and an assortment of mom-n-pop and local stores. This is about it for the entire island, it isn't like you drive to the next town over and shop there since there is no next town over that you can drive to. We are mostly defined by what we don't have as opposed to what we do have. For the large stores which have two outlets, such as Safeway, there is one in Hilo and one about 120 miles away in Kailua in the Kona district. The nearest "chain" any kine store to my house is over 30 miles away. We just don't have the population to support all that many retail outlets. As the economy tanks, even some of these stores will be closing.
Thanks for the comments, hotzcatz. I've to admit I didn't think about the lack of stores the same way even though we've been on the Big Is a few times and is looking to purchase a 2nd home there. We were always either in Kona or Hilo and, of course, we could see KMart, ... so I kind of assumed the shopping is very similar to the mainland. Actually my wife called JCPenney (which I take it you don't have) and they said they would ship some item (probably linen) for $17 which I thought was reasonable. But I was worried big ticket items for a new house, like appliances, would be more expensive but that is not the case from what I see online.
Most everything is more expensive because, as a general rule, remember it all had to be shipped here. That cost is added on to the retail floor price. One small example I had recently: I was coordinating the purchase of tile for a condo with the mainland owner. I went to Lowe's and found something I thought would work that they had enough of right now. Hoping her Lowe's had the same item, I called and told her what it was. It was on sale for $1.08 per sf for 16" tiles. She did have the same at her Lowe's but they were $.80/sf for the same 16" tiles.
Except for the occasional close out price, last one of old model, etc. you can pretty much depend on everything being more expensive here, and in some cases even more so on the outer island because a lot of things go to Honolulu first, then are re-shipped out to the other islands.
Hotzcatz will probably laugh in agreement to the local saying "if you see something you want, buy it NOW 'cause it may not be there tomorrow, or ever!" I heard that when I first moved here and sort of dismissed it. Ah, then I learned! "Oh that tile we had last week? Sorry, all gone. Have no idea when we might get that one again." <arrgh!> You get used to it and plan accordingly. It's part of the overall charm.
Doom & Gloom alter! Our family's plan for the next several years has been finalized. We have a three-year supply of rice, beer, beans and bullets.
Seriously, I'm not optimistic. My wife might be out of work in the coming weeks or months. My job seems to be safe for now. These are the things that I see happening in Hawaii over the next year or so.
- unemployment well over 12%, maybe as high as 20%
- housing prices dropping at least 20-25%
- shortage of food and other essentials
- a rise in street crime...it's already been rising for the last several months
- frequent power outages and water shortages...boiling might be necessary too
- the prices on most things will become very cheap, but many won't have money
At some point in the furture, but I don't know when, our economy will be in hyper-inflation mode because we're printing way too much money.
It's refreshing to run into like-minded people. It was announced this morning that we lost another 53,000 jobs across America. And this is only from the large corporations, not counting small businesses. Home Depot's letting go 7,000 employees. Think they can't or won't go bankrupt? Guess again! I heard on the radio the other week that 167,000 businesses in America have already gone under. The figure must be higher by now.
Keep your eye on the commercial real estate market. They're leveraged way more than the housing market. Who's gonna rent all the large spaces being vacated by these big box retailers? The Circuit City building in Pearl Ridge was only built a few years ago. I'm sure there's a hefty mortgage that's not being paid right now. Can you picture another large retailer coming in and setting up shop anytime soon? Not me.
This is getting real. Wife told me yesterday that 5 people in her IT Department were released, and she was spared the ax. So where these people gonna find a job?
No. The bailout is similar to feeding the last cannister of gas to an airplane so it can fly a little longer and higher before it plunges into the abyss.
In your opinion. The government spent the same kind of money (given what the current administration is projecting) in the Great Depression attempting to keep the economy afloat, people fed and employment buoyed, relative to the size of the economy and the value of the dollar. I'm not going to get into New Deal economics, but the government is trying to knock the tsunami down to a small tidal wave...
Your opinion is on the far right of what even the most pessimistic prognosticators are saying about the future of the global economy. It paints an incredibly bleak picture of what is going to transpire. Most of the economists today are looking at a deep and protracted recession that most likely will not start to show signs of life for another four quarters or so, which is a considerable amount of time in an economic cycle, but it's not cataclysmic. It is going to be bleak for awhile, and it's going to be a very tough 2009, but the economy will get back on track again. The global economy is too big and too dynamic by it's very nature to not recover and move forward.
The Big Island has one Costco, one K-Mart, two Wal-marts, they say they are building a Target but it's not open yet, two Safeways, two Wendy's, a few 7-11's, two Home Depots, one Lowe's, a few Pizza Huts, a couple of Taco Bells, Jack-in-the Boxes, maybe five Starbucks although one closed, I think, a few McDonalds, two Ross', several ACE hardware stores and several of the mom-n-pop hardware stores are associated with True Value hardware, at least one Office Max, two Border's books, one Sears, several Napa Auto parts, two Macy's and an assortment of mom-n-pop and local stores. This is about it for the entire island, it isn't like you drive to the next town over and shop there since there is no next town over that you can drive to. We are mostly defined by what we don't have as opposed to what we do have. For the large stores which have two outlets, such as Safeway, there is one in Hilo and one about 120 miles away in Kailua in the Kona district. The nearest "chain" any kine store to my house is over 30 miles away. We just don't have the population to support all that many retail outlets. As the economy tanks, even some of these stores will be closing.
You left out Petco, the Sports Authority, Foot Locker, Payless Shoes, The Sunglass Hut, Zale's Jewelers, Coach, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Pacific Sunwear, Lids, Blockbuster Video, IHOP, Denny's, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Burger King, KFC, Panda Express, Arby's, Subway Sandwiches, Quiznos, Cinnabon, Dairy Queen/Orange Julius, Hot Dog-on-a-Stick, Jamba Juice, and a few others.
Some old retail establishments will close and some new ones will open. There has always been a relative overabundance of retail establishments on the Big Island considering the resident population. The survival of many retail establishments on the Big Island is directly related to tourism.
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